Darkest Days
by Megga B
Summary: Vegeta's life with Frieza. An author's note is up. please R
1. Destruction

Chapter 1: Destruction  
  
Hurried whispers....  
  
"Hurry up! Just throw him in there!"  
  
"I can't- AHH! He bit me! The little bastard bit me!"  
  
"Fucking throw him in there! We need to go!"  
  
"He won't let go! C'mon you little fucker!"  
  
A soft thump, the sound of a lock clicking shut and Vegeta no Ouji was left alone in his dark room to gloat about the damage he'd caused his captors. Then he sneered. Frieza had ordered he be locked in his room, but the young prince couldn't think of any thing he'd done wrong. But then again, he hadn't done anything wrong when his father gave him to that disgusting lizard. He leaned back against the wall, lost in thought. The last conversation he'd had with the king of Vegetasei had been a hurried one. Before those bastards had taken him, the king had knelt down before his son, put his hands on his shoulders and told him not to worry, that he would come and get Vegeta soon. He had also told him not to anger Frieza and try to do everything he said without complaint. The prince had had no clue as to what his father was babbling about until they had come to collect him about thirty minutes later.  
  
Then he had learned the hard way about why his father had told him not to anger Frieza. After the tyrant had told Vegeta to kneel before his new master, Vegeta had done the only thing that seemed sensible. He had spit right in that lizard's ugly clown face. He hadn't even had time to think about the consequences before an enraged hand had shot out and knocked the startled Chibi right off his feet. Through a few walls in fact. After he healed from that horrible beating, he had been sent on a purging mission that he would never forget. The air there had been so full of ash that Vegeta had only been on the planet for a couple minutes before he'd almost choked to death on it.  
  
That was the last time he ever disrespected 'master' Frieza.  
  
Suddenly, Vegeta was knocked to the ground by a monstrous explosion that rocked the entire ship. He got to his feet, cursing. What the hell had just happened? Vegeta's eyes widened when a horrible thought struck him. Where had he heard Frieza say they were? Right outside Vegetasei's atmosphere?  
  
"Oh shit..." He whispered. "He couldn't have!"  
  
(An hour later)  
  
He could hear voices outside his door. He pressed his ear to the cold steel so he could hear.  
  
"-destroyed an hour ago. He thought they were getting too strong."  
  
"What a shame." A second voice spoke. "A whole planet gone just like that."  
  
"Yeah. There's only one of them left isn't there? The prince of them?"  
  
"That's what I heard too. Vegeta, I think his-"  
  
Vegeta couldn't listen any more. Slumping back against the cold stone of his cell, he fought a losing battle with the shameful tears that threatened to run down in great streams. Everyone was gone. His father, his mother, everyone. Except him. He was the last prince of Vegetasei. The last king, really.  
  
He hurriedly wiped away the tears when the door to his cell opened and revealed the hideous form of Dodoria.  
  
"Lord Frieza sent for you, kid." He growled.  
  
(Frieza's throne room)  
  
"It's such a shame. The meteor just couldn't be stopped." Frieza purred, his face twisting into a fake mask of remorse.  
  
"YOU LIE!" Vegeta snarled, teeth bared, enlarged incisors revealed. Frieza smiled innocently at him.  
  
"I do no such thing." He said sweetly. "The planet was struck by a huge meteor."  
  
"No..." Vegeta whispered, his eyes scanning the debris of his once beautiful home world through the dome shaped window. "It was you.... YOU KILLED THEM ALL YOU SON OF A BITCH!"  
  
And with that, Vegeta lunged at the tyrant, rabid growls escaping his throat. Frieza grinned before slapping the boy away like he was nothing. Surprisingly, Vegeta rebounded off the far wall and came flying back at the lizard, his enraged roars never dieing. Becoming quite tired of the saiya- jin's temper tantrums, Frieza knocked the boy out with a kick to the gut and threw him to the floor.  
  
"Take him to the dungeons!" Frieza ordered Zarbon, who immediately strode forward to the saiya-jin and flung his limp body across his broad shoulder. "When he wakes up, whip him until the skin on his back hangs in bloody shreds! I will not tolerate disrespect of that intensity!"  
  
Zarbon nodded before walking from the throne room, the last prince of the saiya-jins, hung over his shoulder.  
  
What do ya think? Does it suck? does it rule? Tell me please. Criticism is accepted. And if any one out there knows of any really good angsty non-yoai vegeta stuff that I don't have on my favorites list tell me cuz im desperate for a good fic to read! 


	2. Remorse

AN: Gods it hurt me to right that last chapter! *cries* poor veggie! I wonder how much it's gonna hurt when I write the next chapters and im really evil to him! *laughs evily* on with the fic!  
  
Chapter 2: Remorse  
  
The whip, crusted with the blood of previous soldiers, and now coated with his own, lashed at his ragged back mercilessly, driving the nine year old saiya-jin almost into hysterics with pain. At first he hadn't screamed. He hadn't even made a sound, but the more it progressed the more painful it became thanks to the whips choice of where to land. Right on top of previous marks it had produced. Now he was reduced to a pleading, frightened child, chained to the stone wall, a ki restricting collar around his neck.  
  
He began to wonder if he was even alive, or if this was really his punishment for all the people he'd killed while on purging missions with his father. If this was hell, and he didn't know he was dead yet. If he had been on his planet when it had exploded, and this was just some sick game God was playing with him.  
  
'No.' He decided. 'God doesn't exist. There is no God.'  
  
One final ear splitting 'crack', one final chocked cry, and it was all over. The boy slumped against the wall he was chained to, his eyes vacantly dull. His breath came slowly back to him when he noticed that he had been holding it, in preparation for the next assault on what was left of his back. That horrid whip had turned his back into what Frieza had predicted it would be; nothing more than bloody shreds. The whip was not only encrusted with blood, but also an assortment of spiked metal and sharp glass that had been added over time. It certainly did its gruesome job well.  
  
His fingers had to be pried from their tight positions on the chains he had been gripping them so hard. Blood now ran from his hands as well as his back. He was lifted wordlessly into someone's arms and carried from that horrible room.  
  
  
  
Zarbon absolutely hated doing this, especially to someone so young. He decided to end the punishment before he filled Frieza's quota of five hundred lashes and before the poor boy blacked out completely. Even now the young saiya-jin was gone somewhere else in his mind, if the vacant expression on his face was any proof.  
  
Dropping the whip with a sigh, Zarbon walked over to the now scarred child and undid the chains wincing at the marks the braided metal had left on Vegeta's hands. Those wouldn't leave scars, but the whip marks would. He would carry those memories around with him for life. He undid the collar, his hands shaking slightly at the sins he had just committed, and scooped the boy up, ignoring the blood that soaked his armor, turning it black.  
  
He made a mad dash for the infirmary, pushing any imbeciles he encountered out of the way in his haste. After some exchanged words and a couple frightened doctors, the saiya-jin was finally secured in a healing tank, his mind taking him to places far away from this hell he called his life.  
  
  
  
Over the next few days, Vegeta found that he was not the only saiya-jin alive, that indeed, two more saiya-jins had been on the ship when Frieza had destroyed Vegetasei. Nappa, Vegeta's body guard, had been sent to the ship right before the explosion, and Raditz, a third class saiya-jin, had just returned from a mission to find the planet gone so had come aboard the ship, completely confused. Frieza had let them both live, dismissing the issue as 'What's a few more monkeys?' and Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz had banded together as the sole survivors of a terrible tragedy.  
  
  
  
I know it's a really short chapter I'm sorry about it too but I saw that as a good place to stop. *kicks rock then raises hand scout style* I swear on everything I care about that I will make the next chapter extremely long! So what do ya think? Does it suck ass or does it kick ass? Tell me please! 


	3. Flashback Vengence

AN: keep in mind that everything in 'here' is a quote from a flashback. Enjoy.  
  
Chapter 3: Flashback Vengeance  
  
"Oh mother I love it!" Celia gasped her eyes dancing over the aqua colored dress in her mother's dainty hands. The dress matched the girl's hair and eyes perfectly.  
  
"I knew you would." Her mother smiled, placing the delicate clothing back in its box. "But it is for the party tonight so you will not touch it until then!"  
  
Celia pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Can't I just try it on?"  
  
The older woman scowled at her daughter's persistence. "If you try it on now it will be wrinkled for the party. You don't want that do you?"  
  
The fourteen-year-olds face fell and she shook her head 'no'. The mother smiled affectionately, her hand coming to rest on her daughter's shoulder "That's my girl."  
  
After those three innocent words were uttered, an explosion rocked the entire city, startling the two women. The palace walls continued to shake as guards thundered up to their room, their voices panicked.  
  
"My ladies," One panted, his face showing his fear. "The palace is under attack! I have orders from the king to move you to safer quarters."  
  
  
  
Vegeta stormed into yet another house, his face remaining impassive, as he quickly disposed of its occupants. He had done this gruesome job too many times over the past five years to be effected at all by the carnage he created. He was nothing more than a shell when he was on missions. A pawn, doing all his master bid him to. He had accepted the fact that he was a slave years ago.  
  
Continuing, he reached the next house and kicked down the wooden door, which collided with an object at the other end of the room. He glanced at it and jumped at what he saw. His father was staring back at him...but something wasn't right... He calmed down when he realized that this wasn't his father, but a mirror. And he was seeing himself. He hadn't seen his reflection in so long that he moved closer to get a good look at it.  
  
He was older now, nearly sixteen. The childish bangs he had once loathed so much had grown straight up into a giant widow's peak to match his father's. He smiled. His flame like hair was the symbol of the royal house of Vegetasei. Then he frowned, his fist lashing out to shatter the glass. It meant nothing now and it would never mean anything again.  
  
Ten minutes later, Vegeta stood amongst the ruble of the once beautiful city, observing the destruction he had bestowed upon it only minutes before. The horrid smell of burning flesh reached his nostrils and he sucked it in like it was his lives air. He knew that after he completed this strange mission that he would eventually have to return to that ship. The ship smelled worse than burning flesh. Body odor, mixed with the constant scent of blood was what wafted through the floating bit of hell at all times of the day. Being on this planet, standing in the middle of rotting bodies was far better than being back in the hands of Frieza.  
  
He shuddered. Not wanting to think about the homosexual tyrant that had enslaved him at that moment, he proceeded to complete the second part of the mission; retrieve the princess of the planet Swar. He knew what Freiza would do to her, but he didn't care as long as he got to eat. Kicking aside a severed head with a sneer and, wanting to waste as much time as he could, he walked in the general direction that he remembered seeing the enormous castle. As he walked, he became lost in thought, his face contorted into a look of pure concentration.  
  
Vegeta hated bringing something to that bastard that would cause him pleasure, but considering he hadn't eaten anything, except scraps he could scavenge, for almost a week, he felt like bringing the icejin a toy just so he could get a bite to eat. He scowled. It was pathetic what he was reduced to when he needed something that, by all rights, he should have right in front of him. He shouldn't have to beg for something to keep him alive. It was absolutely ridicules. But the sad truth all the same....  
  
He walked for almost an hour before he reached the castle. Stopping for a moment to admire the architecture, Vegeta found it almost as interesting as the natives on the planet. Shining white marble columns rose to meet the rest of the castle which also shone with the brilliancy of the sun. Vegeta's eyes scanned up the vast structure and he realized with an annoyed growl that it would take him at least an hour to track down the wench inside. He had had specific orders to bring her back unscathed in any way. Destroying the castle or causing any type of commotion could bring down a wall or pillar on top of her fragile scull killing her and earning Vegeta nothing more than no food and a nice beating.  
  
Scowling, the saiya-jin kicked the enormous wooden doors, reducing them to splinters in one swift movement. Immediately, guards rushed forward, swords raised and ready for battle. They didn't get far though, as Vegeta disposed of these pests almost too easily and, after wiping the blood off his hands on a near by wall, began his search for the young princess.  
  
  
  
Gasping for breath, both the princess and the queen of planet Swar sped along a long hallway, flanked by armored guards, just as the second explosion rocked the palace. Celia let out a startled cry but continued to run, her sides burning like fire, one hand clasping her mother's, the other rapped tight around the box that held her dress. She had had to beg her mother to let her take it with them. Finally, after promising the clothing would not slow the party down, she had grabbed it and fled with the guards and her frightened mother.  
  
They turned a tight corner and flew down a winding flight of stairs that led to a bomb shelter where they stopped at an iron door. A guard fumbled with his keys for a second in his nervousness, before finding the right one and unlocking the door. Inside, caned food lined the walls, as did blankets and many other items one would need if they were to be trapped here. Which, Celia didn't doubt they would be by the sound of things upstairs.  
  
The guards all turned to leave, save for one, who, Celia knew well as Nettio, turned to offer the women a sympathetic smile. "Once this new enemy is defeated, I will be back for you, my ladies." And with that he closed the door behind him, his hurried footsteps echoing in the hallway outside.  
  
Celia slumped to the floor, her face contorted with grief. Maternal instincts kicking in, her mother ran to her daughter's side. Rubbing her back, the queen fought a battle with her own tears as she tried to reassure Celia that everything was fine. That they were safe and that nothing could get them as long as they stayed down there.  
  
She soon found that she was horribly mistaken.  
  
  
  
Vegeta snarled as he brought a knee down upon yet another miscellaneous soldier's neck, hearing the bones snap with a satisfied grin. This was what was called 'the hunt' amongst the ranks of Frieza's army. An undeniable sense of superiority mixed with the freedom to kill and maim whatever the hell he wanted gave Vegeta an adrenalin rush to beat all others. Every sense became open and every saiya-jin instinct he had lit up inside him like a flame when he encountered the need for hand to hand combat. It was his favorite thing about his missions, besides being able to escape the confines of the ship.  
  
Following a hallway, he came upon another soldier. Becoming quite tired of playing hide and seek, Vegeta grabbed the man's arm and broke it, then grabbed his neck right as his screams began.  
  
"Where's the wench?" He snarled, ignoring the man's pleading whimpers. When he got no response, he twisted the soldier's already mutilated arm in an iron grip. "Tell me where she is and I will end your misery!"  
  
"Who?" He coughed, through clenched teeth.  
  
"The princess!" Vegeta snapped, growing impatient.  
  
"You'll never find her."  
  
"Oh I will eventually. Now it could come from you, or it could come from your precious king. Either way I will find her."  
  
The devoted guard didn't say a word until, with an annoyed growl, Vegeta twisted the arm again, finally getting the desired response.  
  
"S-she's...in the cellar. In the bomb shelter." Vegeta nodded before destroying the man with one small blast and proceeding to make his way to the lowest half of the castle. The only place he hadn't looked.  
  
  
  
Inside the dank shelter, Celia and her mother listened intently for the sounds of a battle. After they had been safely tucked away, they hadn't herd one thing besides a few miner explosions, which could mean two things; one; the soldiers had finally defeated the intruder or two; the intruder had defeated them. Celia hoped with all her heart that the latter was not the case.  
  
She looked around the room, her cerulean eyes taking in her surroundings for at least the tenth time. Spotting a blanket in a far corner, the princess moved to get the warm material. It was dreadfully cold down there and the women hadn't wanted to move in any way for fear of drawing unwanted attention to themselves. But now since things seemed to be settling down, she pushed aside the fear of movement sensory equipment, and retrieved the blanket. Retracing her steps back to her shivering mother, she sat down and wrapped the blanket around both of their shoulders feeling the relieving warmth spread over her with a smile. That was the first time she'd smiled since the whole mess started.  
  
The queen looked at her daughter, her blue eyes meeting matching ones.  
  
"Think they're okay?" She asked quietly, pulling the blanket closer around them.  
  
"I don't know." Celia whispered. Then she heard footsteps out in the hall. "I guess we're about to find out."  
  
Her mother glanced at the door nervously. "Yes. I guess we are."  
  
  
  
He smiled. The iron door of the shelter was just ahead of him, and the princess waited inside. He suddenly thought himself one of those fairy tale princes that saved the princess and lived happily ever after in a castle by the sea for the rest of their lives. He sneered. But they would not live happily ever after. She would most likely be turned into a sex slave and die miserable and in pain in one of Frieza's dungeons. The poor kid. He almost felt sorry for her.  
  
In a burst of blue light, the door was reduced to a smoldering puddle on the ground. The women inside shrieked in their distress, their pathetic whimpers grating on Vegeta's nerves. He took a look at them and was instantly shocked by their beauty. Long blue hair surrounded tan faces and pointed ears stuck up from underneath the locks.  
  
"Who the hell are you?!" the older one shrieked her face streaked with tears.  
  
'Get up kid!'  
  
'Who the hell are you?'  
  
'That doesn't matter your coming with us!'  
  
'I don't want to! I want to stay here!'  
  
Vegeta recoiled in fear as images flashed across his vision.  
  
'Father!'  
  
'Your dad's not here. He left a while ago. And besides he didn't want you anymore. Apparently you're a really bad kid. He felt some discipline would do you some good.'  
  
Mocking laughter.... Then blackness. As it was now.  
  
  
  
Raditz stopped in mid air, perspiration settling on his brow. He had just received a disturbing set of images from Vegeta's mind, and then every thing had gone black. His prince was in trouble. Altering his course, he headed in the direction he knew the castle was in, a grim frown settling on his face. He knew Nappa wouldn't do shit about it, being to busy destroying cities in a blissful fashion, so Raditz was the only one who could help. The only one that wasn't thick enough not to notice when something was wrong with the troubled youth.  
  
  
  
YAY! Holy shit that chapter took forever! I'm glad I can finally get it out to ya guys! Tell me what ya think! Suck ass or kick ass? 


	4. Meetings

Chapter 4: Meetings  
  
Darkness...  
  
It was so dark. And loud. Panicked voices ran together in one indistinguishable whirlwind in the back of his mind. He managed to crack open one eye but reacted to the burning light with a pained gasp and closed it again, the pain in his skull now exceeding agony. He moaned his distress.  
  
"Holy shit he's awake!" A voice boomed out from the others, its bold sound silencing the rest. He recognized this voice.  
  
"Raditz...?" He whispered, suddenly noticing that he was being carried.  
  
"Stay calm Vegeta! I'm taking you to the infirmary."  
  
"No...I have to...complete my mission."  
  
"Don't worry about that. The girl is with Nappa. He will deliver her to Freiza." Raditz said his voice dripping concern for the boy in his arms.  
  
"Raditz...What happened?" Vegeta asked groggily, his mind bordering dangerously on unconsciousness. He heard the older saiyan sigh.  
  
"I don't know, Vegeta. But we're going to find out."  
  
  
  
The young princess started to panic when the small but gruesome looking alien before her advanced, its smile sadistic and seductive. It was a horrifying creature. Small red eyes stuck out from a clown face and its limbs were pink, which she found comically ironic since this was supposed to be the terror of the universe. But she was not laughing now. In fact she was doing quite the opposite.  
  
Tears streamed down her pale face and her eyes darted around the large room, searching for anyone or anything to stop what she knew was coming. In a corner, the alien that had so graciously escorted her to this terrible room, stood looking awkward and apprehensive.  
  
She knew he would do nothing. She knew that he couldn't.  
  
  
  
She laid limp in the huge man's arms her eyes half closed, as he rushed her to the infirmary, by Frieza's orders. Of course he didn't want her to die yet. He had considered her too much fun to let go to waste. She had found him disgusting and manipulative.  
  
Now she tried in vain to ignore the throbbing pain between her bruised legs as the giant that carried her entered the bustling infirmary.  
  
Indeed it was bustling, and she soon found the reason why. A lone figure lay in the middle of a large crowd of doctors and nurses of all different races, on a cold looking steel table. He was deafly pale and numerous wounds of all different types littered his otherwise perfect body. He looked as though he were hyperventilating.  
  
"Just put him in a capsule!" A doctor yelled as his face reddened in frustration.  
  
"We can't! We have to get him stabilized first. If we put him in now, he will die!"  
  
Celia glanced at a figure in a corner that seemed oddly out of place in this chaotic situation. She gasped with realization. That was the alien that had burst in after the first one had collapsed. She looked again at the one who was the center of attention at the moment and recognized him as well.  
  
He was the one who had collapsed.  
  
Her thoughts where interrupted when an orange skinned doctor approached them, his face covered with perspiration. He glanced at Celia before looking up at the large saiyan carrying her.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" He asked his face, clearly voicing his frustration.  
  
"She just needs a healing capsule." He said his eyes remaining transfixed on the man on the table. "Is Vegeta going to be okay?"  
  
The doctors had just given him an oxygen mask and he had grabbed it up and pushed it to his face, sucking in the life saving air with large gulps. His eyes started to close as his body became stable again. The orange doctor released a relived sigh.  
  
"He is now. He just needs a capsule."  
  
Celia found herself nodding off. There was no excitement to keep her exhausted mind occupied so she was quickly lost in a dream, the last thing she remembered being cool liquid rising around her.  
  
  
  
Raditz looked on helplessly as the medical staff poked needle after needle into Vegeta's bruised arms. A doctor had told him that the lack of food was affecting the young saiyan and that his body was slowly eating off his ki to keep itself alive. The drugs they were giving him now were ki enhancers that gave him the necessary energy he needed to stay alive. But Vegeta suddenly started hyperventilating and Raditz, with a painful sense of foreboding, thought it was all over until a doctor came out with a breathing mask and handed it to the prince who grabbed it greedily. Once the saiyan was stabilized they placed his limp body in a healing tank and breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
Once the excitement had died down and only a selected few doctors remained in the infirmary, Raditz emerged from the shadows like a phantom and walked over to sit in front of his sleeping comrade's tank.  
  
Vegeta was almost like a son to him. He and Nappa had practically raised the kid and having dealt with all his annoying pranks and constant questions since he was nine years old, one could say the three shared an awkward bond. They were the only surviving members of a proud warrior race besides Raditz's brother who they would probably never find. He vaguely remembered something about the whelp being sent to a planet called E-arth or something like that, but he couldn't be sure. It had all been so long ago...  
  
Lost in thought, he didn't notice the third member of the little group enter the infirmary until he spoke.  
  
"How is he?" Nappa's deep voice startled Raditz from his thoughts and brought him back to cruel reality.  
  
"He's fine now. Once the doctors got him stabilized it was downhill from there." The long haired saiyan looked back at Vegeta's peaceful features as Nappa leaned casually against a wall, his arms crossed over his broad chest. "They told me that the lack of food was taking his ki."  
  
Nappa looked confused. "He hasn't been eating?"  
  
Raditz rolled his eyes at the older saiyan's stupidity. "No. Frieza hasn't been letting him. He's keeping Vegeta under strict rule so he'll do what he wants."  
  
Nappa growled. The thought of anybody keeping his prince from eating angered him beyond all reason. He glanced at Vegeta's still form floating in the healing fluid and had to resist the urge to smash the glass and take the boy far away from this hell.  
  
"When will he be out?"  
  
"I don't know, a couple hours maybe." Raditz sighed before glancing at the tank that held the girl they had captured. "Apparently, she arrived at Freiza's chambers safely." He let out an ironic chuckle. Nappa nodded, scowling.  
  
"He tore her apart." The large saiyan said quietly.  
  
"You watched?" Raditz was horrified and disgusted at the thought of seeing...it.  
  
Nappa looked desperate. "He wanted me to stay so I could take her here afterwards!" He growled. "I didn't want to watch!"  
  
"Tell me," the younger saiyan said smirking. "Are you permanently scarred?"  
  
Nappa fumed. "That was the most disgusting experience of my entire life! You don't have to go reminding me of it!"  
  
Raditz chuckled at his friend's distress and straightened from his position on the floor, stretching. "I suppose we could go eat while we wait. It will be a while before he even has strength enough to move." And with that he made his way over to the door of the infirmary with a grumbling Nappa trailing behind him.  
  
  
  
Blinking in the bright light, Celia desperately tried to remember where she was as a doctor dressed her. Her eyes darted frantically around the room until they latched onto a healing tank that seemed significant. Shifting her body so she could see better, she spotted the occupant floating in the clear healing fluid and gasped as the memories flowed over her fragile mind, crashing against it painfully like a wave. She began to fall but thankfully the doctor caught her and hoisted her shaking body back on her feet.  
  
"Maybe you should lie down for a while." He suggested. When she didn't respond, he followed her gaze and shook his head. "You don't want anything to do with that one right there. He's a mean little prick. He'd sooner tear your heart out than look at you."  
  
Celia ignored his crude comments. "What happened to him?"  
  
The doctor scowled. "In order to keep him under control, Frieza deprives him of food and anything else at that matter until he does what he's told. It suddenly became too much. He started to hallucinate and finally, when this last mission had worn him down, his body just couldn't take it any more. He collapsed. Wasted capsule space if you ask me." The doctor walked off mumbling to himself as Celia continued to stare.  
  
When he had burst into the shelter he had taken one look at the two of them huddled on the floor and instantly backed away, fright etched into his features. Then he had said a few things in what was obviously his native tong before grabbing his head like it hurt him. Finally he had just blacked out right there. So this alien had issues of his own. She suddenly didn't feel so alone now that she knew she wasn't the only one who was suffering under Freiza's tyranny. But she did have a hard time feeling sorry for him after what had just happened to her. She walked over to the pod and sat down leaning against it, drawing her knees up to her chest.  
  
She hated it, but she felt sorry for herself. She had watched her mother be killed, she had been raped by a disgusting alien, what else could go so wrong? Starting to sob, she turned to look at the man in the tank once more and gasped when she saw that he was awake and staring at her. Suddenly she stopped crying. She was to frightened to cry. For in the depths of those obsidian eyes, she found more pain and torture than she ever knew existed. His eyes bored into her as if trying to tell her something. As if trying to tell her that she hadn't even experienced half of what he had been through and that there was more to come. She suddenly had to wonder how long he had been here, but before she could properly contemplate the issue, a loud beeping sound emitted from his capsule. She watched as his eyes darted up to the source of the annoyance then back down at her, as the doctor on duty rushed towards the tank, clearly not interested in angering the occupant.  
  
She knew those eyes were telling her to wait for him. But the scary thing was, was that she didn't know how she knew.  
  
  
  
YAY! Finally man! I have so many ideas for this story that I just want to get past all this shit and go for the action! Hell yeah there will be action I can guarantee that!  
  
Now that the two have finally met, what the hell is gonna happen? Well that is strictly for me to know and you to find out! *cackles evilly* please R&R! Thanx! 


	5. Mate?

Chapter Five: Mate?  
  
He stared into those brilliant blue eyes and they stared back reaching into his soul, the aqua orbs swimming in unshed tears. They were tearing at him. Tearing at his mind, and his fragile sanity. He had to look away, but he couldn't. Suddenly a shrill beeping brought him back to reality and he glowered at the offensive sound, his eyes finally able to tear themselves away from those heart wrenching eyes of that wench. That fucking wench that had almost destroyed him! How? How had she caused that kind of affect on him?  
  
His eyes swiveled back to stare at her as the doctor came to release him from the paralyzing liquid. He would soon find out.  
  
Stopping only to don clothing, Vegeta grabbed the girl's thin hand and strode from the medical bay, leaving behind a very confused doctor, the chart in his hand still poised to read out the saiyan's status. They raced down the hall, the girl making no move to escape the frightening alien. Stopping at an open door, Vegeta swung the girl around and tossed her into the room, his black eyes narrowed in determination as he too entered, closing the door behind him. The room glowed an eerie red. Celia noticed that it was a boiler room. Turning to her, he loomed over her shaking form.  
  
"What the fuck did you do to me you little bitch?!" He was bordering dangerously on the brink of insanity in his rage, and Celia was beginning to wonder if the doctor was right. Maybe she should have left him alone.  
  
But she hadn't and now she was paying for her mistake. She tried to make sense of his question but her stressed mind couldn't process his words. All she could do was let out a terrified squeaking noise. Vegeta snarled, before grabbing the girls blue locks, pulling her up so they were face to face.  
  
"What did you do to me?!" He demanded.  
  
Celia started to sob. "I don't know! You came bursting in than you just kind of fell and blacked out!"  
  
"You didn't use telepathy or anything?"  
  
"No! I swear it!"  
  
Teeth bared, Vegeta dropped the sobbing princess before sauntering away to lean against a boiler, his arms crossed. The whore hadn't done anything. Or so she claimed.  
  
"I know what did happen though..." She said timidly and Vegeta turned to look at her, waiting for a response. "The- the doctor told me t-that you hadn't been eating and the lack of food was eating at your k-ki instead. He said that it was the only thing that was keeping you alive." She started to hiccup occasionally as Vegeta mused over this new information.  
  
The eating issue couldn't be helped. When Frieza told the kitchens not to give Vegeta food they obeyed without a second thought. And if he was caught stealing food or getting some from Nappa or Raditz, the consequences would be devastating. He cocked his head in thought. He had completed this mission, even though it hadn't been him who delivered the girl, maybe he was allowed to fill his empty stomach. Staring at the blue haired girl on the floor Vegeta contemplated how he could pay her back for the information she had provided. A saiyan was always honorable, and when something useful or helpful was given to them, they rewarded the giver. Always.  
  
"What is your name?" Vegeta asked, his anger finally diminishing completely. Celia looked up at him at a complete loss for words. Was this man bipolar?  
  
Finding her voice, she answered his random question. "Celia."  
  
"Well 'Celia'," he said, actually offering her a friendly smirk. "Are you hungry?"  
  
  
  
Moments later, an odd foursome stood side by side in the long line, bordering the mess hall. They had met up with Nappa and Raditz on the way to the crowded cafeteria and the two tall Saiyans had joined them, finding room for a second meal. Celia stood self-consciously beside them, her hands folded, timidly glancing at the burley warriors around her. Vegeta noticed this and decided to reassure her.  
  
"Don't worry. As long as those low levels think you're with me, they'll leave you alone. In fact they will go out of there way to avoid you."  
  
Looking around, Celia noticed that indeed, soldiers were parting around them like they were stones in a creek bed. It was almost comical. She turned wary eyes up to the large Saiyans and Vegeta chuckled.  
  
"They won't touch you either. If anything they will protect you."  
  
Celia smiled when the saiyan with the long hair nodded down at her, smirking. "Yeah, we'll do anything to protect Prince Vegeta's new mate."  
  
Celia blinked, "Mate?"  
  
Snarling with rage, Vegeta leapt on his companion, Raditz laughing the entire time. He would have been successful at gouging the older Saiyans eyes out like he intended but Nappa stopped his rampage when he grabbed him up in a headlock telling him to calm down while suppressing his own urge to laugh. Blushing, Vegeta pulled himself free of Nappa and turned away to sulk. Celia giggled. The little Saiyan was actually kind of cute. Considering his tan face, muscular body and height that was a perfect fit for her own, she concluded that he wasn't just cute, he was down right sexy!  
  
'What am I thinking?' She suddenly thought wildly 'This man and his comrades destroyed my planet! That long haired one killed my mother right in front of me! I can't hang around with a crowd like this!'  
  
Her eyes shifted to a commotion in a far corner where two aliens were going at it in a similar fashion she had just seen Vegeta and the long haired saiyan performing moments before. Except this time one seceded in ripping the others head off and Celia felt as though she was going to be sick.  
  
'Maybe I should stick with this crowd.' She thought weakly and inched her way closer to Vegeta who noticed but ignored the unexpected movement.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, the strange group reached the kitchen and Vegeta felt his mouth water as the delicious smells increased ten fold. His empty stomach growled involuntarily and Celia glanced at him, chuckling. They all grabbed their trays and headed down the line to where a chef was placing food on people's plates. Spotting the Saiyans, He glowered mumbling to himself about 'over large portions', and 'not enough to go around'. Then he spotted Vegeta and his heart sank. Why did he have to be the one to tell a starving Saiyan that he couldn't eat?  
  
"I can't serve you." He said, eying the Saiyan warily, bracing himself for an attack. "Freiza's orders."  
  
Vegeta just looked at the chef, his face remaining emotionless. Then, abandoning his tray, he walked solemnly from the mess hall, his defiant head held high as always, sparing no one a sideways glance.  
  
Celia watched the proud Saiyan stride from the hall in all his regal glory, with misty eyes. Deciding against her better judgment, she also abandoned her empty tray and ran after him.  
  
  
  
Whew! This is quickly turning into an epic! YAY! I love epics!  
  
So tell me what all you awesome reviewers out there think! Nothing pisses me off more than a person who reads and doesn't review. _ so review!  
  
Oh and happy Easter! I'm on spring break so mine is especially happy! 


	6. Flight of Freedom

Chapter Six: Flight of Freedom  
  
The ship was impossibly huge, Celia soon found out as she searched for Vegeta, and the Saiyan Prince was impossibly fast. More than once she found herself down a hallway she had already ventured down, and more than once she found herself in a room that she knew Vegeta wouldn't be in. Finally when she had begun to pant, she sat down and started to think.  
  
If something as humiliating as that had happened to her, she would want some way to vent her anger, but she highly doubted that Vegeta would go off and pout. So what would he do?  
  
The training room!  
  
Felling slightly in better spirits, Celia quickly got to her feet and started to run, her feet padding silently in the deserted hall. She needed a sign or something, something with words and arrows, something that would lead her to her destination. She found just that and her heart sank. The words were nothing more than interesting looking shapes and scribbles to her.  
  
Furrowing her brow in thought, she suddenly remembered a question she'd asked Vegeta on their way to the mess hall.  
  
  
  
"How do you know how to speak my language?" She'd asked timidly, wanting to break the unnerving silence between them.  
  
"My scouter programmed it into my head. If I wanted it to, it could decipher foreign symbols, codes, languages, just about anything. It acts as an instant translator."  
  
  
  
Now she knew. On her way to the sign she'd passed an entire room full of scouters. Blue scoters, red scouters, yellow scouters, green scouters, big scouters little scouters, a whole shit load of scouters. She smiled. She needed a scouter.  
  
  
  
The training room was empty of any other occupants besides the Saiyan Prince. It reminded Celia of the huge coliseums she'd seen back home. It was dome shaped, with gravity simulators lining the far wall and a nice assortment of exercise equipment scattered around at random places. One gravity simulator seemed out of place amongst the others as it hummed monotonously, red caution lights flashing, creating an eerie effect in the otherwise pitch black room. Curious, Celia tiptoed closer to the simulators viewing window where she wasn't surprised to find the Saiyan she'd been searching tirelessly for. Her eyes wide with wonder, she settled her arms on the window ledge and proceeded to watch as he performed a graceful kata, his face set in a stern look of pure determination. Although she knew there were emotions raging inside him, her naïve mind couldn't grasp how intense these emotions really were.  
  
The hate he felt for Frieza was so strong that he was nearly vibrating in rage as he throttled an invisible worrier to within an inch of his pathetic life. He was familiar with this specific warrior, having spared with him on numerous occasions. The fighters face held many forms, but the one Vegeta saw most often was that of a stock white face with evil glowing red eyes bulging out from their sockets and a mocking smile that only infuriated him more. That face he knew all to well.  
  
A wave of agony descended over his empty belly and he found himself crashing to the floor of the gravity room before he had time to tense up against the impact. His muscles screamed from the pressure of the extra gs as he began the laborious process of crawling toward the 'off' switch, his eyes narrowed as he focused solely on his goal.  
  
He didn't make it.  
  
He was a mere foot away when the increased on its own, resulting in the Saiyan's anguished screams echoing off the simulators wall as the pressure started to literally crush him.  
  
Outside, Celia watched helplessly, regret settling in her stomach as Vegeta started to scream. She knew she shouldn't have touched it! She should have let him get to the control panel. At least he knew what buttons did what. She had accidentally turned the gravity up and now she didn't know what to do. Turning back to the alien panel, she studied it in a slight panic, before realizing that if the button she had just pressed meant 'up' then the button below it had to mean-  
  
She wasted no time in pressing the life saving button and turning back to the viewing window was relived to see Vegeta's tense form relax as the pressure finally started to dissipate into nothing.  
  
Blinking in confusion, Vegeta tried to make sense of what had just happened. Turning painfully towards the viewing window his questions were answered when he saw Celia's smiling face framed in that glorious blue mane of thick curls. Wrenching his eyes from her beauty, he pulled himself into a sitting position with a tiny gasp of pain that was audible only to his ears, as Celia came running in, her face beaming. Her features quickly darkened when Vegeta doubled over and began to cough, his arms cradling his bruised ribs. Celia knelt down beside him, but kept her distance. She was still slightly wary of him.  
  
"Oh God, Vegeta I'm so sorry! I didn't know what button to press and I couldn't read the writing, and you just looked like you were in so much pain that I had to do something I mean I couldn't just leave you here to die and-"  
  
"Would you please shut the fuck up?" Vegeta ground out between pained coughs. "Good God! I already have a damn headache and all you want to do is run your fucking mou-"  
  
He broke off coughing and Celia grimaced when a small bit of crimson splashed to the once clean floor. "You need to get to the medical bay."  
  
"No! I have had enough of them for today. And besides this is only a minor break, nothing that won't heal on its own." He got slowly to his feet before stumbling over to the door where he leaned against the frame, his breath coming in quick shallow gasps. Sweat was pouring down his face and Celia concern grew when he started coughing again.  
  
"You haven't eaten in- well... I don't know how long but if you try to let it heal on it's own it might not heal." She drew in a deep shuddering sigh as he turned to look at her, his eyes wide in surprise. "Without the food to power your body, it might not have the energy to heal the wounds. You could bleed to death from the inside or drown in your own blood or-"  
  
"How do you know all this?" he asked.  
  
She lowered her eyes as they started to fill with tears. "I- I was training to become a doctor back home." She sniffed. "I guess that will never happen now..."  
  
Vegeta looked on impassively as she crumpled to the floor and wept with the loss of her world. "Actually you could become a doctor." He said and her head snapped up so fast he swore it almost fell off her shoulders.  
  
"Here?" She said sneering. "I don't want to have to treat a bunch of disgusting aliens who will only cat call me while I'm trying to work! They won't appreciate me one bit because I'm female!"  
  
Vegeta's face grew cold. "I'm one of those aliens." He said and she shook her head.  
  
"No. If you were really one of those aliens you would have taken what you wanted from me and left me for dead." She said staring into his eyes. "You're different. You helped me when no one else would."  
  
"Well I'm trying to help you now. I could talk to Frieza about it." When she looked apprehensive he continued. "Well it's better than being his little whore isn't it?"  
  
He realized he'd said the wrong thing when she started to sob again only gracing him with hateful glares once in a while. He sighed. This was going to be difficult.  
  
They both jumped when the training room doors flew open and in strode Dodoria his eyes narrowed at the woman on the floor. "Frieza sent for you over an hour ago you little bitch. He wants some company."  
  
Celia gave Vegeta one last frightened look, who felt just as helpless as her, before she was dragged from the room kicking and shrieking like a banshee.  
  
  
  
"Where was she?" the tyrant purred as he stared down at the sobbing princess at his feet.  
  
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you-"  
  
"Where was she Dodoria?" Frieza hissed, the first tendrils of annoyance gripping him.  
  
"She- she was with Vegeta."  
  
Frieza looked at him curiously. "Were they doing anything?"  
  
"Actually Lord Frieza they seemed to be having a civil conversation."  
  
Frowning Frieza said "I didn't know that monkey was capable of intelligent speech." And laughed at his own joke, while Dodoria chortled stupidly behind him. "Tell me my dear what were you talking to him about?" he said addressing Celia.  
  
When she didn't answer she received a brutal slap that sent her flying to the other side of the room. "Leave Dodoria! I have ways to make her talk."  
  
  
  
Vegeta was actually disappointed when Dodoria took Celia away. Having no one else to converse with, he made his way to the mess hall to wait outside the door for Raditz and Nappa to finish stuffing their faces so they could go spar. Every other person in that damn mess hall had left before the two Saiyans finally emerged but when Vegeta saw the bundles in their arms he instantly knew why they had waited. Nodding for them to follow him, Vegeta led them to the same boiler room he had taken Celia earlier that day. Safely inside, the larger Saiyans set down the bundles they had been carrying and Vegeta grinned with anticipation.  
  
Food.  
  
Sitting before his prize, Vegeta started to plow through the generous helpings his comrades had managed to sneak out, relishing each bite like it would be his last. 'And in a way it could be', he thought darkly. Nappa and Raditz had gone off somewhere in the large room to spar and leave Vegeta in peace.  
  
He could literally feel his depleted system returning to normal. Starving cells replaced their nutrients and Vegeta felt his strength returning with a vengeance. He would be back to training at his best in no time.  
  
  
  
Deciding to catch up on lost training time, Vegeta stayed long after everyone had left, receiving the solitude he craved. He practiced his katas some more before moving on to basic martial arts, and after destroying every punching bag in the entire training room, moved back to the gravity simulator where he stayed. After one of his longer katas, he returned to the floor where he sat to catch his breath. Looking around he was startled to see Celia's pale face staring at him from outside the simulator. Déjà vu.  
  
Frowning, he got up from his sitting position and hobbled painfully over to the door, where he opened it before approaching Celia who never even looked at him. She kept her lifeless eyes on the spot that Vegeta had been sitting in before. He came up beside her.  
  
"Did you get something to eat?" She asked vacantly.  
  
He nodded, guilt starting to settle in the pit of his stomach. "Did you?" A dumb question.  
  
She shook her head 'no' and he turned his eyes away from her. He knew what had happened, but he didn't know what he could possibly do to help and he was completely inexperienced in that area of tenderness. Then he had an idea.  
  
"Come here. I want to show you something."  
  
She followed him obediently to the middle of the domed room, keeping her eyes low. When she caught up with him he smiled. "Would you like to experience flight?"  
  
Before she could answer, he grabbed her around the waist from behind and took to the air, slowly at first but when she spread her arms while laughing in delight he went faster, dodging rafters and support beams. After a while he started to laugh too, joining in on her joy, having the time of his life. He was happy.  
  
A while later her laughter turned to a contented smile. She looked over her shoulder at Vegeta who was also smiling and whispered two simple words.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
  
  
Wow! I loved writing that chapter! Sorry it took so long but I had trouble thinking up how they would get together. Then I was listening to a song called "Running Blind" by Godsmack and I heard a line in there that set the whole message for this chappie! The line was:  
  
'I thought if I showed you I could fly  
  
Wouldn't need anyone by my side'  
  
See what I mean? It was perfect! Thanx, Godsmack for giving me that idea!  
  
Oh! And thanx to all the peoples who reviewed! You guys are awesome and a special thanx to Josh who advertised for me! you guys kick ass! 


	7. Author's Note

To all my awsome and loyal reveiwers,   
  
This is just an author's note so I'm sorry if y'all got excited. Well i obviously found a way to get this word processer to work on ff.net but the bad thing is it has no spell check. Anyone who knows me know's that i need a spell check cough cough Josh cough cough because i have no spelling abilities whatsoever. So i will not be posting any chapters untill I can get home (which will be in like a week) so dont get your undies in a bunch. But I also have some bad news (which could be some good news for some ----) I am planning to totally rewrite this fic. It's going to have a new tital and every thing. But before you all get upset and start trying to maul me, listen up. I will still keep Darkest Days up for all of those who enjoyed it and also i will continue it, it's just that there won't be updates as often as they were coming. I was reading this over and i found that it could really use some touching up. The new one will be much longer, more detailed, darker, more disturbing, and will have better dialouge. The tital? Well, for now that can remain a secret. Flame away if you want, but keep in mind that i WILL finish Darkest Days.  
  
-Girl of the Flame 


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